Matt was a 18 year old high school senior. He wasn't nerdy persay but he was by no means popular. He was an average person, not fitting into any particular high school stereotypes. He was too strong to be called geeky but too weak to be on sports teams and be a jock. He smoked weed to relax after a stressful test from time to time but wasn't addicted and therefore didn't do it often enough to be called a stoner. He skated but it was very casual and seemed more like a hobby then a genuine interest. He wasn't as smart as the students who were earning college credit in high school, but wasn't dumb enough to be in basic remedial courses.
He wasn't bad looking either with his shoulder length brown hair, bright green eyes, slightly tanned skin and lean muscle. A girl wouldn't be grossed out at the concept of going to prom with him, but he wouldn't have been someone's first choice. The short haired, square-jawed, muscle beasts on the schools football team had that honor. Matt didn't care about any of that though, being unpopular was perfectly fine with him as he believed all the drama belonged on soap operas or reality tv and not in actual daily life. He had no interest or intention of drawing unnecessary attention to himself, he didn't care about sports, having a different girl every week, or having a ton of friends. He was the type who would be content dating one person for all of high school if they genuinely liked each other, and would prefer 5 real caring friends over 500 fake friends who just wanted to be able to say "I'm the star quarterback's best friend you know!" As if that would matter in one year.
Matt was a simple guy who wanted out of a high school, into college, then into the rest of his life. Picking up genuine friends and dates along the way. Even when he thought of his adulthood he had no fantasies of fame, be it in his career or sports or art or whatever people got famous for. He wanted simplicity and because of that he usually faded into the background as just another face in the crowd you'd never notice unless you were looking for him.
Though that was less then great to Matts father. He was a former wrestling and football star. Having earned local fame in middle school for being the wrestler whose actions beat their schools rival and started a 10 year long winning streak their school would eventually have. He was a varsity quarterback in high school and had dated nearly every cheerleader his school had to offer. He was in a college team as well and had brought his campus to national victory. He was even being offered chances to join several professional teams after he graduated. But in his first year on the New York Giants some asshole tackled him too roughly and caused him to dislocate his left knee cap. He would recover but nerves were too permanently damaged. He would walk with a slight limp the rest of his life and thus his glorious train ride to fame crashed before it had even left the station. His performance a mere footnote in the teams overall history. When he had a son he was thrilled at the idea of being his personal coach and leading his son to the fame he had been denied, his last name at the very least carring some weight in the college football world, his son could have his pick of the top football colleges in the nation if he had wanted it. But despite some interest in his youth Matt had lost interest in football in middle school because he disagreed with how hardcore seriously people took the game. Not appreciating the bad sportsmanship. The choice had been Matt's though his father tried to force the issue. It got worse when Matts mother died in the childbirth of their second child due to too much blood loss. The second child was a girl and being the sole parent of the house that combination made Matt's father very upset. He was sad he had lost his wife but with having total control of the house, and no second son to try to live his dream with, he only got more pushy on Matt. This "scared" Matt away resulting in him barely spending any time home other then sleeping during these all important high school years.
Soon Matt would move into a college dorm and his father wondered if he'd ever see his son again after that. It was at this low point that he had been contacted by an old football buddy of his from college. The two met for drinks and reminisced about old times. The topic of his disappointment in his son came up and his friend had offered him an all too tempting sounding solution...a sort of training camp that could help adjust Matt's attitude forever. He had a hard time believing it was true...but Matt's father liked the idea far too much to shrug it off.
***
Bryan was one of the smartest students in his grade. Some even said he was a genius. A child prodigy his whole life though his parents decided socializing was important and didn't let him skip the two grades his school had recommended. He was in his freshman year of high school and the school was pushing for an update to his IQ test to see if he qualified for a special school. If he did the school district would cover 95% of any costs with his parents having to cough up the remaining 5%. To both of them this seemed a more then fair agreement.
Bryan was disappointed about not skipping ahead when he was younger but now that he was 14 he was greafull. Sure the work wasn't a challenge to him but he wasn't bored. School to him existed for social purposes. He could play a handheld game and chat with his friends through an entire lesson and still pass the test anyway. He already knew and understand most of what he was being taught. And whatever he didn't already know he could probably logically figure out during the test itself. He wasn't too thrilled with the idea of a special school as that would mean school that actually felt like school rather then a social place. The only class he was doing bad in was gym and that's because he was physically weak. The only upside to his special school was that he wouldn't have gym, as it would offer more electives than the public school, he could substitute gym class for any number of things.
He wasn't exactly a nerd. He wasn't into nerdy things really, his intelligence and being physically weak being the only characteristics he had. He was very social and actually had a decent amount of popularity. He wasn't bullied as everyone hopped to be on his good side so he would help them academically if the need ever came up.
Bryan was physically skinny but was about 5'9 or 5'10 in height with short blond hair that he sometimes spiked up just a little when the mood hit him. He had no nerdy glasses to hide his hazel eyes.
What both he and his family didn't know was that the special school test was actually a test to see if he needed to be sent to the compound. His school was part of a program that was trying to reduce the number of over-achievers in place of sports players. What with new prenatal care and vitamins the world had more smart people then it knew what to do with. It would be such a heart break to see such a brilliant mind trapped doing checkout at target or whatever. The compound had convinced many schools that it was only good having vast intelligence if you can use it properly but there were simply more beautiful minds then there were places for them. Thus having a dumber mind with plenty of challenging opportunities was better then having a brilliant mind with little or no opportunities. Bryan's parents would be convinced to have the same point of view after it's been decided whether or not he would qualify to go. If he only had above average and not genius levels, he would probably be left where he is and both he and his family would never know of what almost happened.
***
Dan was out on a walk. He was a bit over weight and had decided to walk at least once a day for his health. He was 22 years old and had never been much of an athlete. But he had decided he didn't need to be overweight either. He decided that starting small like this would be helpful and more cost effective then a gym membership. Even his campus one was pretty pricey even with the student discount. He was quite a nerd, into comic books and anime. He was currently in college finishing up his BS in chemistry. Although he had intentions of going on to grad school afterword.
Dan couldn't stand sports. He didn't like doing them or even watching them. He was the type who watched the Super Bowl for the advertisements. He had the luxury of a family that more or less supported him no matter what his choices. His Dad had been in school sports but never pushed his son. And he was getting closer to his independence since he was living at college most of the time. His black hair was cut in a bowl cut as he couldn't really decide on anything particularl he wanted hair style wise. He wore glasses and a slight beard and had just decided no other look would suit him well or look right. His skin was more pale then tan as a result of years of no interest in being outside.
He was fated to be one of those kidnapping cases where no one but an agent observer decided he needed to go. Dan barely noticed the white van with the beefy shirtless driver parked in a lot he passed almost everyday on his walk. He never paid much attention to his surroundings other then if a car was following him, and the compound had far too much experience to do something as obvious as that...